Pilot In Kobe Bryant Crash Thought He Was Climbing When Descending, Report Suggests

Among the NTSB documents made public is a report that says Ara Zobayan may have become disoriented in the foggy weather, causing him to think the helicopter was climbing when it was descending.

When an air traffic controller asked Zobayan his intentions, the pilot replied, “climbing to four thousand [feet],” but the report says the helicopter was descending and banking to the left.  

In a phenomenon known as “somatogravic illusion,” in conditions where the horizon isn’t visible, a pilot can mistake acceleration for a rapid climb and deceleration for tilting forward.

From 2000 to 2016, there were nine accidents involving large transport aircraft caused by somatogravic illusions, taking 481 lives, according to a paper from a researcher at Cranfield University in the U.K.

Before takeoff, Zobayan texted the parties involved in the flight that the weather was “OK,” according to the NTSB, and the owner of the helicopter company, Island Express, agreed that the flight was doable in the weather.

The NTSB released its docket, which is over 1,700 pages, listing the agency’s findings and includes transcripts of interviews from the investigation—but the NTSB has not written a final report yet about what caused the crash.